Swan fined for umpire comments

SYDNEY co-captain Dane Rampe has been fined $10,000 for telling an AFL umpire he “talks like a little girl” last Friday night, with half of the amount suspended.

Rampe has also been handed a suspended $1,000 fine for scaling a goal post during the same SCG match between Essendon and the Swans.

AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking acknowledged the contrite defender made a public apology on Monday in response to both incidents.

However, Hocking nonetheless booked Rampe for ‘conduct unbecoming or prejudicial to the interests of the AFL’.

“As a senior player in our game, and a captain of his football club, Dane is well aware the derogatory nature of his remarks are completely unacceptable and have no place in our game,” Hocking said in a statement.

Rampe’s second-quarter verbals came as he fumed at whistle-blower Jacob Mollison.

Rampe and Swans coach John Longmire, speaking on Monday, both acknowledged it was a poor choice of words.

“By no means did I mean any disrespect to them (umpires). I know it’s a hard job and, at times, my frustrations can boil over,” Rampe said in a video.

“I was frustrated that I didn’t hear the call. By no way of imagination did I mean for my comments to be derogatory to girls.

“Being called a girl is something that should be celebrated and I genuinely mean that. I’ve learned from my mistake.”

Longmire defended his captain’s character.

“It was a pretty poor choice of words – he knows,” Longmire told reporters on Monday.

“You address it and move on … he’s a real quality person. He made a couple of mistakes; he’ll learn from that.”